Britain's Complicity In Torture

The damning report, which the UN body
says is based on interviews with the suspects, their families and
lawyers, warned the UK government that it was on the verge of losing
its moral legitimacy as it faces a "legally, morally and politically
invidious position".

It added that British officials who interrogated four suspects
detained in Pakistan could not have missed "clear and visible signs of
torture" including the removal of fingernails.
The report concluded that "the UK complicity is clear" despite a lack of evidence indicating direct involvement.

British and American agents involved in one case were not only
"perfectly aware that we were using all means possible to extract
information…[but]…grateful that we were doing so," one Pakistani
intelligence source told HRW.

HRW's finding of British complicity in torture is ... a matter
for serious concern and its demand for an independent public inquiry
fully justified. Crucial in this regard is the finding that:

In... five cases, British officials and agents first colluded with illegal detention by the Pakistan authorities and then took the collusion further by repeatedly interviewing or passing questions to the detainees between or during torture sessions. [Italics mine.]

Each
State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under
its criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture
and to an act by any person which constitutes complicity or
participation in torture.

Generalized statements by
government ministers on this matter do not answer to the gravity of the
findings in HRW's report. An inquiry is called for.

Agreed. And the responsible parties need to be held accountable - under the law. Including, if necessary, former prime minister Tony Blair and current prime minister Gordon Brown.

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